A startling revelation in the Uber rape case could land the banned cab company in an even bigger soup . It has emerged that just eight days before a 25-year-old executive was allegedly raped by Uber cab driver Shiv Kumar Yadav in Delhi, Nidhi Shah, who was visiting India from the United States, lodged a complaint about the driver with the company.
Shah, who went public with this information over Twitter, said that she complained about 32-year-old Yadav on November 26 for staring at her during the cab ride in Delhi.
Yadav has previously been arrested on charges of rape in 2011 and 2013. The US-based car company is under fire for not having conducted a proper background check on its driver. But the question now also is whether the rape could have been prevented if Uber had followed up on Shah's complaint.
I took a cab with Shiv Kumar Yadav in Delhi on Nov 26th. Scares me beyond belief. #DelhiShamedAgain
— Nidhi Shah (@nps2113) December 8, 2014
I had reported Shiv Kumar Yadav to @Uber on Nov 26th. They said via email they would check on him. Not soon enough. #DelhiShamedAgain
— Nidhi Shah (@nps2113) December 8, 2014
@ankit977@Uber he was staring at me and smiling - made me feel quite uncomfortable
— Nidhi Shah (@nps2113) December 9, 2014
She posted her cab receipt identifying Yadav and Uber's email response to her complaint
my receipt for the nov 26th ride with the rapist Shiv Kumar Yadav @uber#DelhiShamedAgainpic.twitter.com/Ho4ZpA3xbn
— Nidhi Shah (@nps2113) December 9, 2014
email from @uber regarding my feedback about Shiv #DelhiShamedAgainpic.twitter.com/e4Hl6dEI4f
— Nidhi Shah (@nps2113) December 9, 2014
In a phone interview from the United States with NDTV news channel, Shah said that Yadav told her that his GPS was not working and she had to find him by walking through Chandani Chowk. She got into the car with her partner.
"He kept staring through the mirror. And I felt a little uncomfortable so I would hide behind so he couldn't see me and I thought that he was smiling a little creepily. So eventually when he dropped us off, I thought I should report it to Uber. And so I just wrote a quick sentence before rushing into my business meeting about this guy. He seemed... I had a bad feeling about him," she said.
Shah also explains why she didn't pursue the complaint.
A few of you have said that I should have reported Shiv Kumar Yadav further - here's the reality - being stared at creepily is SO common.
— Nidhi Shah (@nps2113) December 9, 2014
In retrospect, of course I wish I had done more. But the reality is spending energy on this takes away energy from doing big things.
— Nidhi Shah (@nps2113) December 9, 2014